![]() As Dante transitions from guide to guide, he ascends through Purgatory and Heaven and is thereby growing closer and closer to God. Bernard of Clairvaux, who is closer to the Blessed Mother, and therefore, to Christ, than Beatrice. However, Beatrice too is left behind for St. Beatrice’s role as a guide extends further than Virgil’s because Beatrice originally initiated Dante’s journey and requested that Virgil accompany him. She draws him from Purgatorio through the spheres of Paradiso. Beatrice is Dante’s muse his relationship with her is Platonic. ![]() However, both because natural reason is limited, and because Dante’s vocation as a poet calls him to greater feats, Dante must ultimately surpass Virgil and leave him behind. Secondly, he is Dante’s poetic guide: his great work, the Aeneid, is the foundation of Dante’s poetic instruction. Virgil’s role within The Divine Comedy is two-fold: firstly, he is the bridge between the Christian and the pagan, and therefore he represents the extent to which human reason can guide Dante. In the Divine Comedy, Dante’s escorts through the afterlife form a Platonic ladder: they all draw Dante closer to the Empyrean, but they can also serve as distractions from the true path. If you have a Theology essay that you would like published that received a grade of an A- or higher, please be sure to contact us.īy Maria Keller, University of Notre Dame ![]() It has been edited and approved by Christianus Van Den Eijnden. The following was a college essay written by Maria Keller. ![]()
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